據ICIS網站4月6日休斯頓報道 西方石油公司的子公司西方石油低碳合資公司（OLCV）和生物技術公司Cemvita Factory計劃建立一個生物乙烯試驗工廠，用人造二氧化碳（CO2）生產單體。

該試驗工廠的產能為1噸/月，利用二氧化碳、水和光生產生物乙烯，估計將于2022年啟動。這些公司沒有透露將在何處建造這座工廠。

這項技術與碳氫化合物生產的乙烯具有競爭力，盡管兩家公司沒有具體說明價格。

Cemvita公司首席技術官Tara Karimi表示，這一過程是通過從香蕉中提取一個基因，并通過基因工程將其植入Cemvita的微生物中開發。

OLCV技術副總裁Robert Zeller表示，如果成功，該項目將為西方石油提供另一種乙烯來源，用于生產聚氯乙烯（PVC）。

Cemvita表示，它的技術可以處理多種二氧化碳源，幾乎不需要調整。在最初的試驗階段，它計劃從當地的天然氣供應商那里購買二氧化碳。

該公司表示，稍后將使用天然氣燃燒產生的二氧化碳，可以利用直接從大氣中捕獲的二氧化碳。

OLCV本身也參與了美國的幾個碳捕獲與封存（CCS）項目。

王磊 摘譯自 ICIS

原文如下：

US Occidental, biotech firm to build CO2-to-bioethylene pilot plant

A subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), and the biotechnology firm Cemvita Factory plan to build a bioethylene pilot plant that will produce the monomer from manmade carbon dioxide (CO2), the companies said on Tuesday.

The pilot plant will have a capacity of 1 tonne/month and produce bioethylene using CO2, water and light. It should start up in 2022. The companies did not say where it will build the plant.

The technology is competitive with ethylene produced from hydrocarbons, although the companies did not specify any prices.

The process was developed by taking a gene from a banana and genetically engineering it into Cemvita's microorganism, said Tara Karimi, chief technology officer of Cemvita.

If successful, the project could provide Occidental with another source of ethylene, which it uses to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC), said Robert Zeller, vice president of technology for OLCV.

Cemvita said its technology can work with a a variety of CO2 sources with little or no modification. For the initial pilot phase, it plans to buy CO2 from a local gas supplier.

Later it will use CO2 derived from burning natural gas, the company said. It could use CO2 captured directly from the atmosphere.

OLCV itself is involved in several carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the US.